Share something about yourself

I’m currently doing my B.Sc (Bachelor In Science) in C.S.E (Computer Science Engineering) from “United International University”. The reason why I study CSE is because I wanted to be a game designer & developer since I was kid. Because of the games that I used to play around 2000 as a kid, I started to question: how are these games created? How many people made these game? I got a taste of game development when I was doing an APL (Advance Programing Language) course at my university in which we had to create a game with “iGraphics – Library” (openGL Library) with the basic C & C++ . Then I started my research on how these games can be created in a better way and how to start game design & development. I found “Unity” as one of the best mobile game engines out there and has been used for many games. Now the big question was, “Where would I learn?”. Thank god that I found Coursera to help me out. Thanks to Coursera for letting me be part of it by helping learners like me who are interested in “Game Design & Development.”

What was your first Coursera course, how did you find out about it and why did you decide to take it?

The first course on Coursera that I took is Introduction To Game Development from Michigan State University. When I was looking to kick start my learning of the “Unity,” I found Coursera to be a good platform to start as it provides certifications that can be used for job/internship applications in the game development industry. As I realized that Coursera is really concerned about my learning, it became my most favorite place to learn anything related to the IT industry, as the certificate really helped me a lot in getting some outsourcing work from UpWork by which I got the money to gear up to develop the game that I was dreaming to build for a long time.

What’s your favorite Coursera course and why?

My favorite course on Coursera is Business of Games and Entrepreneurship, which helped me a lot to understand about how things work in the industry. I understood why someone needs to focus on PR, Marketing Strategy, Press kit etc. Game developers believe that making a game is all it matters, but to be honest, If you created the next games/product & people don’t know anything about, it’s a failed product.

What impact have Coursera courses had on your life?

To be honest, I am really grateful to Coursera for creating this excellent platform for learners where they can get the best lectures from the top listed universities around the world from any place they are living. I couldn’t have afforded this quality of education if there were no platform like this. So I feel really, really indebted to Coursera for providing this world class education to me. Coursera is not only offering the best education, but also providing a chance with the scholarship for the students who are interested in education but cannot afford it. To be honest, I couldn’t have afforded the course fee if it wasn’t for the fully paid course fee through the Coursera finaid.

Recently I received the good news that one of the “Senior Lecturer” from “UMS” (University Malaysia Sabah), Dr. Zamhar Islamil (https://goo.gl/fht8Wa), has offered me the position of “Post Graduate Researcher,” if he can manage to get the funding for me.

Which course(s) do you Mentor? What do you like most about the courses?

I am currently mentoring Game Development For Modern Platform from Michigan State University, where we are helping learners figure out how to efficiently develop a game for modern platform such as iOS, Android & WebGL. The two reasons I like mentoring are because: (1) you get a chance to see the work of the talented and passionate people around the world and how much they are putting into their games. Their effort for learning and implementing is unbelievable. When I get frustrated with my progress,I see their work and get inspired by realizing how hard they are trying as well. (2) you will learn a lot because the students face some epic problem that you never thought while you were developing your own game. So if you are teaching 100 people, you are learning more than you think in the process.

How did you decide to become a Mentor?

In one word, Ethics. As Coursera did so much for me by providing world class education to me through scholarship, I felt like it was my duty to do something for the community as well. I also believe everyone should contribute whatever they can to make this community successful. Right now, I am just mentoring the Game Development For Modern Platform from Michigan State University , but I would also like to Mentor the Business of Games and Entrepreneurship as I have seen there are only 2 Mentors that are currently mentoring that courses. So all I can say is that, If I get a chance to do more for the Coursera, I will do it. Thank you so much Coursera for this excellent platform.

Comments (6)

I agree with Tashfiqul Bari that it is a great opportunity to get the best education from the U.S. Universities through Coursera. It is possible to do that even free of charge if you apply for financial aid. it is ethics, as Tashfiqul wrote, to give in return if you gained so much. Mentoring also is a way to gain even more knowledge and help others at the same time. For me mentoring is a volunteer work and I am happy with that, because I will not be able to find the best way to do that. Once I asked MAry, the officer of Education from the U.S.Embassy in our country, what is the way to do volunteer work and she said that there are many ways for that: to organize free English courses or summer school . In my case due to some reasons and circumstances it would be better to do volunteer work online. I have computer at home and internet access. I can spend hours for volunteer work and do the housework at the same time. This opportunity makes me the most enthusiastic person.

Thank you , Tashfiqul Bari, for sharing your story. It’s fresh and inspiring, to say the least. Maybe Coursera would like to share stories like Bari’s with a greater audience.
Good luck with your studies, Bari.